Thank you very much Melania. America is truly blessed to have such a – an extraordinary right? Extraordinary First Lady. She’s extraordinary; she really is. She cares about people.

Hello Miami. I am thrilled to be back in the state I love, with so many proud, freedom-loving Patriots. We’re here to proclaim a new day is coming in Latin America, it’s coming.

In Venezuela and across the Western Hemisphere, socialism is dying and liberty, prosperity and democracy are being reborn.

Today our hearts are filled with hope because of the determination of millions of everyday Venezuelans, the patriotism of the Venezuelan National Assembly, and the incredible courage of interim President Juan Guaidó.

The people of Venezuela are standing for freedom and democracy, and the United States of America is standing right by their side.

Let me begin by thanking the great leaders here today who have been such incredible champions for the cause of Liberty and these people love you, and they love Venezuela.

And they love Cuba and they love all of the places that we’re fighting. Newly elected and already doing an incredible job Governor Ron DeSantis, a man who I call — especially when we’re talking about Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, he knows a lot and he’s a friend of mine, Senator Marco Rubio,a great governor; he gave Ron a little bit of a headstart; he did a fantastic job in Florida; former governor and now senator Rick Scott.

Somebody that I’ve gotten to know very well especially as to the fact that my heart is in Venezuela, representative Mario Díaz-Balart. Ambassador Carlos Trujillo, Lieutenant-Governor Jeanette Núñez, your new and great Attorney General Ashley Moody, and to so many other dedicated public officials that are in this room right now; we thank you very much for being with us.

Thank you also to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross who’s with us and Ambassador Lighthizer. Ambassador Lighthizer here I have to say just got back from a place called China.

And boy oh boy we’re making a lot of progress. Nobody expected this was going to be happening. We’re making a lot of progress.

In the meantime, billions and billions of dollars are coming in to our treasure. It’s very simple. All works that never happened before; we don’t know the feeling in this country but now we know the feeling.

We also want to extend our deep appreciation to the President of Florida International University Dr. Mark Rosenberg for hosting this important event.

Finally I want to thank each and every person in this wonderful audience who has made your own stand for human dignity and that’s probably just about all of you.

And I want to especially thank the Venezuelan exile community that has done so much to support President Guaidó to organize aids for their compatriots and to do just a lot back home. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you. We’re with you.

We are profoundly grateful to every dissident, every exile, every political prisoner and everyone who bears witness to the horrors of socialism and communism and who has bravely spoken out against them. Thank you very much.

The fact is you’ve seen the crimes and you’ve seen the corruption. You have seen the hunger and the suffering. You have heard the anguish pleas for help. You have protested and protested with respect but loudly.

And you have prayed for the day we can now see which is just ahead, the day when all of the people of this region will at last be free.

As we meet today, the people of Venezuela stand at the threshold of history, ready to reclaim their country and to reclaim their future.

Not long ago, Venezuela was the wealthiest nation by far in South America. But years of socialist rule have brought this once thriving nation to the brink of ruin. That’s where it is today.

The tyrannical socialist government nationalized private industries and took over private businesses. They engaged in massive wealth confiscation, shut down free markets, suppressed free speech, and set up a relentless propaganda machine, rigged elections, used the government to persecute their political opponents, and destroyed the impartial rule of law.

In other words, the socialists have done in Venezuela all of the same things that socialists, communists, totalitarians have done everywhere that they’ve had a chance to rule. The results have been catastrophic.

Almost 90% of Venezuelans now live in poverty. In 2018, hyperinflation in Venezuela exceeded 1 million percent. Crippling shortages of food and medicine plagued the country. Socialism has so completely ravaged this great country that even the world’s largest reserves of oil are no longer enough to keep the lights on. This will never happen to us.